


Touch (or The Greatest Enemies to Lovers)

by Anonymous



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M, Partners to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:27:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29148186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: It is a truth universally acknowledged that: openers hate closers; Kageyama hates having his routine disturbed; and being a barista makes one basically immune to boiling liquids.Or the one where Kageyama and Hinata have to come up with a system to combat their idiocy.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 5
Kudos: 32
Collections: Kagehina Exchange





	Touch (or The Greatest Enemies to Lovers)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [starberryteas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starberryteas/gifts).



> ummmmmmmmm hello!!! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to write a coffeeshop au and relive a few fun years of my life in the process. I hope you like your present <3

  
  


Routines exist for a reason. If things are streamlined, there is less room for error. Repetition makes things second nature, and to Kageyama, that makes his part time job at Cup & Crow bearable. He’s not effusive like his favorite shift manager, Sugawara; he’s not lively and endearingly awkward like his fellow barista, Yamaguchi. Kageyama knows this and so do their morning regular customers. He can’t fake or force a smile, but there is no one else who can make drink after drink with perfect precision that has people coming back to their shop morning after morning. 

On quieter mornings, he doesn’t mind listening to regulars talk about their week or their families. The ones that know him best know he’s listening, even if the questions he asks are few and far between. On Sunday mornings, his favorite customer, old man Katsuo, comes in with exact change for Ennoshita at the register and a Sunday paper gripped in his only hand. The first time Kageyama had taken Katsuo’s wet cappuccino directly to his table with extra napkins, Kageyama had wondered if he had over-stepped. Instead, Katsuo had smiled at him with a look so genuine and kind, Kageyama had wanted to sit down across from him and listen to any story he’d be willing to offer. Maybe, easily repeatable routines weren’t the only reason Kageyama enjoyed working at a coffee shop. 

This all gets flipped on its head when their store manager, Daichi, announces that Yamaguchi is swapping the closing shift with Hinata, the one person on the team Kageyama can’t stand. He sucks at cleaning, and any regular morning customers that happen to meet him never hesitate to wax poetic to Kageyama about it. Who cares if the guy is “cool” if he can’t be bothered to remember if he’s changed out the trash cans? 

The Sunday morning is slow and the store is clean, so Sugawara throws an arm around Kageyama saying, “stop pouting about Yamaguchi leaving you. It’s not like he’s dying.”

Kageyama starts scrubbing the sticky syrup bottle in his hand more aggressively. He flits his eyes to Sugawara for a moment and then brings them back to the bottle.

“I’m not sad about Yamaguchi leaving for the night shift.”

Sugawara hums and asks, “then what’s got you all grumpy, hm? Tell your senpai, I won’t judge.” He removes the arm around Kageyama and places both hands on Kageyama’s scrunched shoulders instead. He gives him a good shake, but Kageyama keeps trying to clean. 

At the register, Yamaguchi twirls a permanent marker on his fingers as he watches him. With an “ah-ha” noise, Yamaguchi crashes into the conversation, “Kageyama doesn’t want to work with Hinata, I bet.”

Sugawara sounds disappointed when he lets out a long “what?”

Yamaguchi flips the marker and uses it to point at Kageyama, “Look at his posture, I’m totally right!”

“Yamaguchi, he always looks like that,” Sugawara argues as he finally lets go of Kageyama to go wash his hands. Finally free, Kageyama decides to scrub at the side of the espresso machine with enough force to make it slide a pinch of a millimeter on the counter. 

Yamaguchi, still unsatisfied, tells Sugawara, “he’s only that tense when Tooru tries to flirt with him.”

Oikawa Tooru, comes in at seven thirty in the morning on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays on his way to the eight o’clock physics lab he is the TA for. Kageyama has perfected the extra sweet, extra whip, hot chocolate he orders every morning just to get him out of his hair as fast as humanly possible. 

Sugawara laughs, because he knows how much Kageyama hates him, “I guess you’re right, Yamaguchi.” Before leaving to count the gallons of milk and milk substitutes in the backroom, Sugawara talks behind his hand loud enough for Kageyama to hear, “But you know, that doesn’t mean he won’t miss you.”

The bell above the door jingles, saving Kageyama from having to decide if he should let the comment slide or not. 

A few days later, Kageyama pushes open the door of Cup & Crow for a mid shift Nishinoya has begged him to take so he could cram for an exam before his evening business class. 

To his surprise, Hinata is at the register, his orange hair glowing under the harsh lighting. He’s bouncing in place as he writes a customer’s order down on the paper cup in his hand. Kageyama wonders how anything he writes could be legible if he can’t stop moving like a video game sprite. 

He finds his answer after he clocks in and replaces Ennoshita at the machines. Hinata slides him a new order chirping, “good morning, Kageyama! Long time no see!” 

Still calibrating for the morning, Kageyama examines the cup he’s been given instead of returning the greeting. The chicken scratch that he finds there wakes him the rest of the way up. 

Hinata clicks his tongue and turns back around to the register, but Kageyama catches him saying, “Hey, dumbass, you expect me to be able to read this crap?” 

After flashing a smile to the waiting customer, Hinata stomps back over to Kageyama. He snatches up the cup and reads the order outloud to Kageyama.

When he’s finished he laughs and teases Kageyama, “next time you can just tell me you’re illiterate.”

Kageyama’s never contemplated workplace violence before, but for Hinata, he might be willing to risk it all. 

They spend the rest of the shift trading barbs. Hinata’s are coated in honey and double meanings so the customers at his register don’t blink twice at their exchanges. For his part, Kageyama mumbles his jabs when he has to cross into Hinata’s territory for new spoons and steaming pitchers. 

The tension feels like it’s about to snap and lead to an exchange of blows when Ennoshita mercifully emerges from the backroom. The smile he gives the both of them is pointed and threatens greater, darker violence than either Kageyama or Hinata could enact on each other. 

“Glad to see everything’s going great up here!” he says while holding up a spray bottle and a rag. He deposits them in Hinata’s hands and tells him to start scrubbing. Ennoshita takes over the register with a cackle. 

HInata looks ready to stomp a foot, but he holds in whatever he wants to say. His mouth is pulled to the side like a child who’s been denied dessert, and Kageyama finds himself letting out a small laugh.

Snapping his head up to look at Kageyama, Hinata yells, “shut up, Dummyama, before I spray you in the face.” He holds up the bottle and aims it at him for emphasis.

“I fear for my life,” Kageyama deadpans in response. He turns back to the queue of drinks that’s building up for him as Ennoshita flirts with every customer that comes up to the register. It’s amazing how he can flip-flop between charismatic and wouldn’t-be-surprised-if-he-was-a-serial-killer. 

Kageyama examines the first cup in the line. It’s an iced tea with enough sugar to kill a small animal, but whatever, Kageyama’s being paid to make drinks, not judge their nutritional value. 

He turns around and takes a couple of steps to grab a pitcher of hibiscus tea. When he’s done with the drink, he goes to take the few steps back to the hand-off, but his foot catches on something. The stuttering movement makes him lose his grip on the drink, and it falls all over the floor. 

Or it would have fallen on the floor if Hinata wasn’t in the way. Covered head to toe in the sugary drink, Hinata screams and looks up at Kageyama through the orange and red hair clinging to his face.

“What the hell Kageyama!”

“Me? You’re the one who didn’t tell me you were behind me!” 

Rivulets of tea are pouring down into Hinata’s open shirt as he glares at Kageyama from the ground. He stands up and jabs a finger into Kageyama’s chest.

“It was just for a couple of seconds. Why can’t you just pay attention?”

Kageyama’s mouth opens and closes a few times as he processes what Hinata is saying. “Me?” he asks when the wires in his brain finally connect. “You of all people are telling me to pay attention? You can’t even remember how to close properly, and you’ve been here longer than me!”

Hinata looks ready to punch Kageyama in the face when paper towels start raining on top of them. They turn toward the shower of paper to find Ennoshita standing beside them with his arms full of a packet of those paper towels. 

“Hinata,” he instructs with a voice even like the blade of a knife, “go get cleaned up.” He turns to Kageyama, “Remake that drink, and get back to work. The cafe’s starting to fill up.”

  
  


The first morning Kageyama and Hinata are scheduled to open with Sugawara, Hinata looks like he wants to die. He can’t stop yawning as they clock in, and he can’t seem to tie on his black apron. 

“Come here dumbass,” Kageyama says after Hinata’s fifth attempt. 

He glares at Kageyama, but his jelly fingers aren’t getting any better at motor control as they try to fight with their eyes. In defeat, Hinata turns around and lets Kageyama tie the apron. 

“Is this your first time opening?” Sugawara asks as he opens up the safe.

Hinata yelps when Kageyama pulls the strings way too tight. He doesn’t snap at Kageyama like he expected. Instead, he answers Sugawara, “Yeah, but I know what to do.”

“Good,” Sugawara says as he checks off his own to-do list. “Kageyama can help you if you get stuck.”

“Yikes,” Hinata whispers under his breath before the two of them go up to the front to begin setting up.

To Kageyama’s surprise (and relief) Hinata only needs to be reminded to turn on the oven that sits in the corner. Hinata’s silence is strange to Kageyama. His movements aren’t sluggish, but there is something missing from his energy.

Kageyama kicks a fridge closed and asks, “hey are you-” he stops, embarrassed as the words stick to his teeth “-are you feeling okay?”

Hinata’s head snaps up from the coffee grinder he was leaning his forehead against. Kageyama rolls his eyes when he sees coffee grinds sticking to Hinata’s forehead.

“What?”

Kageyama clicks his tongue and tries to explain his concern, “you… just seem… different. Not as… energetic.”

It’s Hinata’s turn to roll his eyes. He flicks the grinder back on and ignores Kageyama. With a huff, Kageyama goes back to his last minute set up. Sugawara comes through the front of house to go unlock the doors.

He hears the grinder click off and Hinata’s tired voice says to the stilling air, “I didn’t get any sleep last night.”

“Why not?” 

“I usually go to bed around this time,” Hinata explains, a yawn destroying his final syllables. 

Kageyama feels his eyebrows shoot sky high. He points the spoon he’s holding at Hinata, “what kind of idiot- why did you switch to opening, then?”

Shrugging, Hinata says, “Yamaguchi’s got seven am classes this semester. He asked, and I didn’t have a reason to say no.”

“Oh, that’s cool of you.”

For the most part, the morning goes by just fine. Hinata perks up after a couple shots of espresso the trio share before the rush starts pouring in. At the register, Hinata keeps up a stream of delightful chatter that has customers coming to the hand-off with giant smiles and stories for Kageyama. He tucks the tales into his apron for later to take out and think about on his break. 

At one point in the busy morning, Kageyama has to cross into Hinata’s domain to grab a new cup after he misreads Hinata’s horrendous writing and makes the wrong drink. Just as Kageyama reaches over to grab the cup, Hinata spins around. Their faces are barely an inch away from each other. Hinata yells in shock, and they spring apart.

“Warn a guy!” 

“Sorry,” Kageyama mumbles and goes back to making drinks.

Kageyama snaps when they almost repeat their theatrics from the doomed mid-shift. Hinata squeaks when Kageyama steps on his foot when he was in a rush to finish a green iced tea. 

“Hinata,” he yells after he safely gives the drink to the customer. “You. Have. To. Tell. Me. When. You’re in my area!” he grits out before Hinata scurries to the register, his head bowed. 

When they’re cleaning up after the rush dies down for good, Hinata twirls a towel with a frown on his face. Kageyama doesn’t want to get within hitting distance (but Hinata wouldn’t hit him, would he? Is he that juvenile?), but he also wants to know what’s got Hinata chewing on his lip like it personally wronged him.

Kageyama’s crouched cleaning beneath the sink when Hinata says, “It’s hard to speak… when I’m focusing on something.”

Kageyama could relate to that. Words weren’t something that came naturally to him. Everyone knew that and let him be in charge of making drinks on nearly every shift. 

Hinata continues, “so, sorry I forget to tell you when I’m behind you. It’s more like… I can’t get the words out in time?”

After crawling out from under the sink, Kageyama sees that Hinata’s face is tinted pink from the embarrassment. It clashes with the dark circles under his eyes. 

“Alright,” Kageyama says, accepting the apology. “But we’ll have to figure something out, or else you’re gonna end up getting burned one of these days.”

Affronted, Hinata looks down at the towel in his hand. Kageyama eyes him like he’s a viper in striking distance, but thankfully Hinata throws the towel into a bucket and takes it to the backroom. 

When he comes back to the front with his apron off and his stuff bundled in his arms, he waves goodbye to Kageyama.

“Get some sleep, dumbass!” 

The next day during the rush, Kageyama nearly jumps out of his skin when Hinata’s fingers slide across his shoulders. After a pause, Hinata’s happy voice chirps, “behind!” He sounds self-satisfied, like he’s patting himself on the back for remembering to warn Kageyama. Throughout their shift, it keeps happening. On one hand, Kageyama is happy both of them make it through the morning without hurting each other. On the other hand, Kageyama’s not used to being touched this much. 

Whenever Hinata needs into one of Kageyama’s fridges, he either taps Kageyama’s side with the back of his hand or just straight up hip checks Kageyama so hard he stumbles. 

Towards the end of their shift, Kageyama needs to restock some lids. The stacks are stored under Hinata’s register. 

“Behind,” Kageyama says, but Hinata doesn’t hear him over the enthusiastic conversation he’s having with Yachi, a customer in the same college as Yamaguchi at the nearby university. 

Kageyama grabs the sleeves of lids, but Hinata trips over him before he can stand back up. The lids fly up like birds scattering away from a predator. Kageyama and Hinata end up a heap on the floor with Hinata’s heavy head smacking Kageyama in the chest. 

Hinata groans and asks Kageyama if he’s okay. When Kageyama mumbles an affirmative, Hinata sits up, his legs straddling Kageyama as he smacks him with an open palm against his chest.

There’s a hit between each word as he says, “you are always telling me I need to speak, but you didn’t!”

Kageyama grabs Hinata by the shoulders and throws him off of him, “I did! Your selective hearing is going to be the death of me!” They stand up ready to continue their fight, but they hear Yachi groan in fear on the other side of the register. 

Jumping apart, Hinata apologizes to Yachi, “sorry, just a fake fight between friends.” He fake laughs and rubs the back of his neck, “we got a little carried away. Right, Kageyama?” He turns his burning brown eyes up to Kageyama. Still angry, he just nods and stomps back over to the bar to start on Yachi’s order.

After she leaves, looking pale but happy to have her half sweet vanilla latte, Kageyama can feel Hinata fuming from his area. He tries to ignore looking over at Hinata by cleaning the inside of the fridges under the espresso machines.

He hears the door to the backroom swing open. 

“Kageyama, you can go your break no- why are there lids all over the floor?”

Hinata’s groan harmonizes with Kageyama’s as they are forced to face the consequences of their fight. They lock eyes across the floor and telepathically fight over who has to clean the mess up. 

Hinata balls his fist up at his sides like he’s ready to resume their earlier altercation. Instead, he releases his hands after a moment and apologizes to Sugawara. 

On his break, Kageyama sits in the cafe drinking an iced coffee that doesn’t actually have any ice and more half and half than coffee. With a broom and dustpan in hand, Hinata stomps over to him. 

“You should do what I do,” he says without providing any other context. In return, Kageyama leans back in his seat and keeps sipping his drink without looking at Hinata.

He leans on the broom and keeps trying to get Kageyama to talk, “it works doesn’t it? You’re the one who was at fault today.”

That finally breaks Kageyama and he asks, “what is it that you do?”

Heaving a dramatic sigh, Hinata reaches out and taps Kageyama on his back between his shoulder blades. “Like that, Kageyama.” His fingers are warm through Kageyama’s shirt, making him feel ticklish. 

“Oh.”

“Well?” Hinata asks, looking embarrassed. “You think it will work?”

Kageyama buys himself time by sucking down the rest of his drink. When he stands up from the table, Hinata scrambles back to get out of his way. 

He gives Hinata his verdict, “I guess we can try.”

To Kageyama’s surprise, it does work. They never slam into each other again. Each small touch lets each other know the other’s positioning, direction, and needs. A tap on the top of Kageyama’s right arm where it meets his shoulder has him sliding to the left to let Hinata stick his head out the hand off. When he needs Hinata to not back up from the register, he splays his hand in the middle of Hinata’s back to keep them both safe. Sugawara begins to joke about them being psychically linked, but he’s just happy they’re not fighting anymore. 

Hinata quickly adjusts to being a member of the opening team, and it isn’t long before he talks Kageyama’s ear off as they get the store ready every morning. He talks about anything that comes to his mind. Most often, it’s about how he wants to go back to university to study chemistry. He had dropped out his first year for a few different reasons, but he had begun to toy with the idea like a cat plays with a dead mouse. 

Usually, Kageyama nodded or offered a couple words to let Hinata know he was listening. At this point, though, Hinata has brought it up enough to make Kageyama ask, “so why don’t you? Sounds like you really like it.”

Hinata pauses like a spooked rabbit. His cheeks turn a shade darker than his hair when he replies, “I’m not that great at math…”

Kageyama hums, but keeps pushing, “don’t they have tutors for that?”

Hinata’s nose bunches up like it does when he knows Kageyama’s made a good point, but doesn’t want to admit it. “I guess…” He turns back to the bagels he was counting by the oven, his shoulders tight.

Sorry he managed to upset Hinata when he was just trying to be nice, Kageyama stomps over to him. He leans his side against him, and Hinata looks up at Kageyama with a question in his eyes.

“Making sure you have a bread knife for later,” Kageyama lies.

Hinata offers him a small smile and nods, “yeah, I brought one out earlier.”

Kageyama nods and says, “let me know if you need anything; I’m already done setting up over there.” 

Hinata leans into Kageyama’s side and thanks him.

Something seems to shift after the awkward comfort Kageyama offered to Hinata that morning. When he walks past Kageyama to get to the backroom, his fingers will drag across Kageyama’s shoulders. The touch isn’t a warning or a command. To Kageyama, it seems to say  _ I’m here _ or  _ hey there _ . 

On Friday mornings, they work the rush with a five person team instead of the usual trio. They are joined by Daichi and Nishinoya on the Friday someone mentions how Kageyama and Hinata have changed. 

Daichi explains how the morning will flow: Nishinoya and Kageyama will be making drinks; Hinata will be on the register; Sugawara is going to assemble food orders; and Daichi will “run around like a chicken with my head cutoff making sure you all don’t burn the store down.”

His eyes snap up to look at Kageyama and Hinata from his clipboard. He raises an eyebrow and jokes, “don’t you two look cozy.” 

In agreement, Nishinoya laughs and asks Hinata, “are you cold Shouyou?”

Hinata’s fingers dig into the arm Kageyama has thrown around him, and that makes Kageyama pause and think through their current position. He’s standing behind Hinata with an arm resting around his shoulders. In turn, Hinata is leaning into the embrace while his hand is gently wrapped around Kageyama’s wrist. 

Kageyama feels his face flush from the attention, and Hinata’s ears are practically glowing. He might be able to feel the heat rolling off of them. The two of them are tense like springs, but neither of them move for a moment. 

Sugawara just shakes his head and says, “that’s just how those two are, Nishinoya.”

“Damn,” Nishinoya yells, “last I knew they couldn’t get through a shift without blowing up.”

Daichi tilts his head and says, “well, as long as you two aren’t wasting product and fighting on the floor, I guess it’s fine. They behave on their shifts, Suga?”

Sugawara nods. Scratching the back of his neck, Daichi sighs, “that’s alright, then. We’ll have to talk about this later, you two. I’ve never had staff dating each other, so this will be new for all of us.”  
That’s what makes Kageyama and Hinata finally spring apart.

“We’re not dating,” they say at the same time. 

“Shut up!” once again in unison. Frustrated, they both suck in deep breaths and say, “stop copying me!” 

Hinata pulls his leg back, and Kageyama braces to be kicked, but Daichi clears his throat loudly.

“Sorry,” they apologize together. Kageyama can’t stop himself from reaching around the back of Hinata’s head to flick his left ear. 

“I hate you,” Hinata whispers and rubs at his throbbing ear. 

During the rush, Nishinoya asks, “are you two seriously not together?” 

Kageyama’s eyes jump from the espresso machine in front of him over to Hinata on the register and back to the drink he’s making. “We’re not dating,” Kageyama grumbles. He can’t wrap his head around the concept; they’re not even friends. They’re simply coworkers that have found a communication system that suits their needs. If that system has bled out into other aspects of their lives, whatever, Kageyama thinks. 

Unsatisfied and always a dirty gossip, Nishinoya needles him, “you’ve at least got a crush on Shouyou, right? I won’t blame you if you do!”

Kageyama blanches and ignores Nishinoya. He’s at work. All he wants to do is make these drinks correctly, get his paycheck, and go take a nap. Thinking about having feelings for his coworker is absent from his to-do list. 

He looks over at the register one more time before putting the conversation to rest. Turning his head toward the bar at the same time, Hinata sees Kageyama looking at him. At first, he stiffens, but his tight expression melts into a brilliant smile before he goes back to chatting up the customer waiting for some food from Sugawara. 

Something warm takes root in Kageyama’s chest. He can feel it spreading inside him, and Kageyama wonders if Hinata can feel the waves of it rolling towards him. It’s a strange feeling, but he tries not to dwell on it in favor of getting through his shift.

An hour later, Kageyama feels fingers slide across one shoulder to the other. One part of his brain registers that it’s just Hinata going to the backroom. Another recently awakened part of his brain registers that it’s  _ Hinata _ . 

He jerks, shocking Nishonya, and ends up with nearly boiling water all over his hand. Noticing the spill, Nishinoya curses and mumbles an apology.

“It’s okay,” Kageyama waves him away, but walks over to the sink to run his hand under some cold water. “I’m practically immune.”

Nishinoya laughs as he finishes up the drink Kageyama had started. “Dude what do you mean immune? It’s still a burn” he asks. 

“Yeah, but it doesn’t really hurt. It’ll itch eventually, I guess.” In his head, Kageyama curses Hinata for being such a distraction. The touch system should have never gone beyond communicating danger. 

“Damn, Kageyama, that’s scary,” Nishinoya laughs one more time, shaking his head. 

Kageyama spends the next few weeks in turmoil as every touch from Hinata makes him feel like he’s been zapped by static electricity. If Hinata notices Kageyama’s reactions, he doesn’t act like it. If anything, Kageyama thinks he’s increased the contact since the “we’re not dating” incident. His brain feels like mush as it fights with itself over this development. Hinata is warm, and Kageyama wants any excuse to lean into that warmth. However, he can’t help but wonder if all the touches are just feeding a doomed infatuation. The two of them still snap at each other constantly, even though it doesn’t come to blows, like Sugawara had pointed out. Kageyama would rather die than tell Hinata how he’s starting to feel about him, so he does what he does best and focuses on making great drinks every morning. He ignores the way his heart speeds up every time the touch. 

On a slow Monday, Kageyama and Hinata find that there isn’t anything else to do but keep cleaning the already shining countertops. They lean against the sink and Hinata lets his head fall against Kageyama’s arm. Suddenly feeling very warm, Kageyama undoes the top button of his black polo shirt.

“You need caffeine,” Kageyama mumbles as he fights to keep himself from playing with Hinata’s vibrant and unruly orange hair. He feels more than hears his muffled reply.

“Ha?”

Hinata lifts his head and peers up at Kageyama with sleepy eyes, “I said that Sugawara will kill me if I have any espresso. I’ve been politely asked to not drink it on the clock.”

“You could still have regular coffee,” Kageyama points out. He pushes Hinata off of him so they can pour themselves small cups of the coffee Hinata had just finished brewing. 

When Hinata goes to where they keep the food, Kageyama barks, “what are you doing dumbass?”

“I’m getting a cookie. Wanna split it?” 

Kageyama wants to tell Hinata no, but he’s also pretty sure Hinata is looking at him with puppy eyes right now. 

“Fine,” he concedes. 

Hinata jumps up with the cookie clutched in his hand. “Yay!” he cheers. 

Kageyama hands him a cup of coffee, and he receives half a chocolate cookie in return. They spend a minute blowing on their coffee before they take noisy slurps. 

Hinata quickly takes a bite of his cookie and moans around the chocolate. It’s obscene, and Kageyama wants to die. 

“It’s good, right?” Hinata asks, grinning up at Kageyama.

His brain short-circuiting, Kageyama agrees and pours his coffee down the inside of his polo shirt. 

Time seems to stop for the both of them. Kageyama is wondering why there is no coffee in his mouth, even though he knows he brought the cup up to his lips. Hinata pales visibly, his mouth falling open in a silent scream.

“K-Kageyama!” he finally spits out. He runs to the paper towel dispenser and pulls out about twenty. He comes back to Kageyama, who still hasn’t really come back into reality, and starts shoving the paper towels down Kageyama’s shirt. The towels scratch against the skin of Kageyama’s sensitive chest, and he finally realizes that he’s burnt himself with near boiling coffee.

“Kageyama are you okay? Say something! Does it hurt?”

“I’m practically immune,” he responds. Immune to being burnt by hot liquids, sure. What Kageyama is not immune to is the fact Hinata has his hands down Kageyama’s shirt. 

The door to the back room creaks open and Sugawara comes into view. Kageyama and Hinata pause. Sugawara raises an eyebrow at the scene: Hinata embarrassed, frantic, and red with his hands in Kageyama’s shirt; Kageyama mentally checked out of the mortal plane. 

“I…” Sugawara trails off. “I don’t want to know.”

Hinata squawks and releases Kageyama, finally. “It’s not what it looks like! Kageyama just poured coffee down his shirt!”

Sugawara looks Kageyama in the eye, waiting for his version of the story. He manages to say, “yeah, I don’t know what happened, but I missed my mouth, I guess.”

“Nu uh, Sugawara, he went like this, ‘yeah,’ and then he just tipped his cup down his shirt!” Hinata reenacts the entire scene for Sugawara’s benefit. 

Shocked and worried, Sugawara pushes the two of them toward the backroom saying, “get him cleaned up, Hinata. We should have some cream in the first aid kit if he needs him.”

They fight him the whole way to the door, but once they are shoved through it, they have no choice. Together, they walk over to the desk. Hinata tells Kageyama to sit down while he searches for the first aid kit.

“You should take your shirt off, too. Probably make it easier”

Kageyama holds in a groan as he undoes his apron and pulls off his shirt.

Still Hinata hears him. He pops his head up from under the desk.

“Does it hurt that-” the words die on his lips. 

Kageyama peels the paper towels off his chest and feels Hinata staring at him. His eyes are glued to Kageyama’s chest, and Kageyama wished the coffee had melted him into nonexistence. 

“It doesn’t hurt that much,” Kageyama coughs.

HInata picks up some of the paper towels that had fallen free and starts wiping the remaining coffee from Kageyama’s chest. He looks hypnotized. 

“I’m basically immune to liquid burns, you know,” Kageyama tries to get his attention again. Hinata just nods and keeps wiping. It’s a tense minute before Kageyama realizes that he’s dry and Hinata is still touching him.

“Hinata, do you plan on taking my skin off with that?” he asks through grit teeth.

Finally coming back to himself, Hinata jolts and takes his hand away. “Your skin is really red,” he says as he digs inside the first aid kit for the burn cream. 

“Probably because you agitated it.”

Hinata pulls out the cream saying, “ah ha!” He uncaps it and tells Kageyama, “that’s a good vocabulary word for you.” He looks nervous and a little sad.

Kageyama scowls, “I remember it from quizzing you for your entrance exam. You’re going to take it right?”

At the mention of his upcoming re-entrance to university, Hinata perks up, “yeah! Thanks for your help the other day.”

Kageyama waves a hand, happy Hinata looks a little more present. “I’m just glad you’re trying again.” He feels his lips pull up at their corners at the thought of Hinata being brave enough to go after a goal he’s sure others are doubtful he’ll achieve. 

Gasping, Hinata stops his movement. There is a dollop of cream on the tip of his finger where it’s poised over Kageyama’s chest. He’s looking up at Kageyama, his mouth fallen open again like it had been when Kageyama had spilled the coffee.

“What’s wrong?” Kageyama asks in a rush.

Hinata closes his mouth and shakes his head like he’s clearing the cobwebs inside. “Nothing, I just think that’s the first time I’ve seen you smile.” He looks at Kageyama and raises his hand and eyebrows, asking for permission to spread the burn cream on his irritated chest.

“You don’t have to,” Kageyama tells him.

“I don’t mind.”

They sit together in silence as Hinata’s gentle fingers work the cream into Kageyama’s skin. It’s rhythmic and soothing, and the quiet envelops them to create a space where only the two of them seem to exist inside of. 

Not sure where else to look, Kageyama studies Hinata’s face. His tongue is peeking out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrates on his task. For the first time, Kageyama notices the light scattering of freckles Hinata has across the bridge of his nose and under his eyes. They ripple under the fluorescent lighting. 

Hinata sits back and plucks a relatively clean paper towel off the desk to wipe his hands. “Done,” he says. He recaps the burn cream and tosses it back into the first aid kit. When he notices that Kageyama still hasn’t moved, he asks, “you alright, Kageyama?”

Warm and content, Kageyama nods. Without thinking, he reaches out a hand and ruffles Hinata’s hair. “Thanks.” 

Hinata stiffens, and Kageyama begins to worry he’s crossed a line. He tries to snatch back his hand, but Hinata grabs his wrist. 

Worried, Kageyama starts to spit out an apology. “Sorry-”

“No no, it’s okay!” Hinata says in a rush, realizing he’s spooked Kageyama more than Kageyama surprised him. “I like it when you touch me,” he explains, his face looking as flushed as Kageyama feels. 

The silence that follows is heavy. Neither of them seem to want to break the fragile tension between them. Hinata seems to be waiting for Kageyama to answer him. When no words follow, his face begins to sink. The grip on Kageyama’s wrist slackens. Hinata tries to bolt, but Kageyama catches him, hand now holding Hinata’s wrist to keep him from running away.

The words fall out of his mouth in a rush to rectify the misunderstanding, “I do, too! Like it when you touch me. I-” he swallows when Hinata still won’t look at him “-I like our system. And I like that you always let me know where you are, even if it’s not necessary.”

Hinata finally lifts his head. He still looks delicate and worried, like Kageyama has the power to hurt him with his words alone. 

“I thought you hated it when I touched you…” Hinata admits.

Kageyama scrunches up his face, “you lean on me all of the time! I’d push you off if I hated it, dumbass.”

Hinata’s eyes narrow in confusion, “but you always tense up. I thought you were just trying to be nice.”

“That’s because I like you, dumbass!” 

“Well, try acting like it!”

The words seep in, and Hinata shakes his hand out of Kageyama’s now loose grip. Kageyama covers his burning face with his hands as Hinata groans and grips his orange hair.

“Kageyama, that was the stupidest confession I have ever heard.”

Kageyama stutters for a moment and barks back, “you didn’t make it easy on me!”

With a frustrated sigh, Hinata lets go of his hair and comes back to sit in the chair across from Kageyama. He reaches out to pry Kageyama’s hands away from his face. 

“Kageyama, look at me.” When he complies, Hinata continues, “I like you, too.”

“Oh, that’s cool.”

“That’s all you have to say right now?” Hinata laughs.

“It’s been a difficult morning,” Kageyama sputters. Hinata just keeps laughing, and Kageyama wonders if that laughter is what manufactures all the happiness in the world. It must be a tiring job. He watches Hinata’s mouth open and close as he fights against the laughing fit he’s having. Hinata’s lips are pink and wet. Kageyama wonders if they’re as soft and warm as Hinata’s fingers.

He seems to notice Kageyama’s stare, because he finally stops laughing. His smile continues to twitch when he asks Kageyama what he’s thinking.

“Uh.”

“C’mon Kageyama, tell me! You already gave the worst confession in all of history. Anything after that should be easy,” Hinata teases him. 

Kageyama blows out a breath and says, “I was thinking your lips look soft.”

Hinata’s ears turn red. “Oh.” After a pause, he flashes Kageyama a wicked smile and asks, “do you want to find out if they are?”

Kageyama nods, his heartbeat threatening to reach deadly speeds. In return, Hinata closes his eyes and lifts his face, presenting himself to Kageyama. 

With a shaky hand, Kageyama places the pad of his index finger against Hinata’s really, really soft lips. 

“Huh, they are soft,” Kageyama comments.

Hinata’s eyes snap open. “That was a joke, right Kageyama?!” he yells in indignation. 

Confused, Kageyama gestures at Hinata, “you said I could find out! I thought you wanted me to touch you.”

Hinata jumps out of his chair and puts his hands on Kageyama’s shoulders.

“I wanted you to kiss me, you dense, dense motherf-”

Kageyama tugs on Hinata’s apron to force Hinata’s face closer to him. Their lips meet with a little too much force. Hinata pulls back for the briefest moment to readjust the angle. When Hinata leans back down, Kageyama is rewarded with a sigh against him. The kiss reminds Kageyama of fingers sliding across his back; it’s the silent promise of  _ I’m here _ . Hinata’s lips are still jumpy from his earlier bout of the giggles. The kiss feels so wholly like Hinata, that Kageyama can’t help the sigh that leaves his own lips.

They must have missed the creak of the door, but they don’t miss Sugawara yelling, “God dammit you two, keep it in your pants!” 

Hinata jumps back from Kageyama as soon as the grip on his apron is released. It’s then that Kageyama realizes that he still isn’t wearing a shirt. After a frantic search for it, he pulls it on. He stands up and throws on his apron, avoiding eye contact with both Hinata and Sugawara. 

“I’m going to owe Daichi so much money…” Sugawara mumbles as he leaves the backroom. 

As they walk back to the front at an agonizingly slow pace, Kageyama wonders aloud, “are they going to make one of us change our schedule now…”

Hinata grabs Kageyama’s hand to tug him down to his level. He peppers kisses all over Kageyama’s face, and between the feather light kisses, he says, “we’ll just have to convince Sugawara that was a one-off. We’ll behave.”

Kageyama rolls his eyes and holds the kiss monster coworker away from his face. “I don’t think you have that kind of self-control.”

  
  
  


  
  


  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Confession: I did what Kageyama did, but no it was not in the presence of the attractive coworker I had a crush on.


End file.
